Refiner apparatus



Oct. 6, 1953 M. SUTHERLAND REFINER APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 2, 1951 INVENTOR: JEZ/Zerlwzzd ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 6, 1953 M. SUTHERLAND 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 2, 1951 INVENTOR: LL sum/mam,

A TTORNEYS.

Patented ca. 6, 1953 Lionel M. Sutherland,

to Sutherlandv Refin N. J acorporation of New Jersey Morrisville, Pa., assignorv Corporation, Trenton,

Application May 2, 1951, Serial No. 224,121, 7 Glaims. (Cl. 92=26) wins-invention relates to-refinerapparatus, and more specifically relates to apparatus including a painof opposed coacting relativelyrevolving re-- fining membersforrefining pulp stock. The in.- vention further concerns pulp refiningdiscs of a character intendedfor incorporation in fiber pulp refining machines such as. the apparatus represented in- U: S. 'Patents Nos. 2,035,994, 2;l56;320 and 2,156',321', forexample.

The machines andrefiner. discs disclosed in the foregoing patents are capable of producing high quality pulpwith low power consumption, and have enjoyed. considerable commercial success. Imsuch machines the-discs have been provided withradially extending grooves, or with other non-radial. grooves which extend-outwardly from thexcenter of the disc-toa. point adjacent its periphery. However; such: grooves have conventionally-been substantially semi-circular in cross section, and have therefore been substantially symmetrical with respect to the line perpendicularto the working face of the disc.

It hasbeenidiscovered that improved refining results are obtained by providing relatively revclving pulp refining-members the working faces Of'fWh-iGh include outwardly directed grooves havingv curved. cross sections offset from, the line. perpendicular from such working faces, the grooves :thus being of asymmetric characterwith respectto suchnerpendicular'line. The oifset' rooves. of; thee-respective; relatively: revolvin -s members are found to coact with oneanother to rotate; the: pulp. stock: asit, travels along the grooves and. to whirl it about" the longitudinal groove axes. Thiswhirling action appears to indllceefiber" disposition, crosswise to the grooves tominimizeifiber damage in the refiner. AccQrdingly-a pulpof higher quality, as compared to thepulp produced in conventional refiners, is obtained.

:It-fis accordingly an object ofthe invention to provide. armechanisin for producing improved refinedi-fibrous'material. It is another object of thein-vention to provide refiner elements for fibrous ma rial fr m producing high quality fibrous stock. Other obiects andadvantages of the invention, includingthe simplicity and-economy of the same, will iapfurther detail-hereinafter, and in the dr wings wher i Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary face view ofv oneequadrant of a; revolving refiner disc constituting one embodiment of this invention;

2: represents a sectional view taken asiindicated by the lines andarrows II,II,,which apnea a e. 1:.

relatively revolving pulp Fig. 3 represents a fr mentary'face of one quadrant of a stationary-refinerdiso wliich is adapted to be disposed face-to-face with re spect to the revolving disc represented in 'Fig: 1 Fig. 4 representsa sectional view taken as-'-in-- dicated by the lines and arrows IV-IV, which continuation in appear in Fig. 3;

, Fig; 5=represents= a fragmentary enlarged sec tional view of the refiner discs of'Figs: 1' and 3; taken as. indicated by the,lines-and-arrows v v which appear in Figs. 1' and"3;therevolvingand stationary discs being arranged 'faceto face;

Figs. 6'8 represent sectional views simil'arto Fig. 5, indicating the relative-positions of theparts of the revolving and stationary discs-in'tlie' course of operationof'the apparatus; and

Figs. 9-12 represent sectionalviews, similar 'to Figs. 5-8, of a modified-form of-theinvention;

It will be appreciatedthatthe embodiments of the inventionz selected for illustration-in the drawings constitute preferred embodimentsof' the invention, and maybe modified in many particulars without departing from the-scope'of the. invention.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1'4 -of;'the drawings, the refiner elements-211M012;'are in the .orm .of fiat discs having working faces 2 IE Dis-- posed: non-radially along. the working-faces 21 are the elongate. grooves :22 separated from one another by the intervening ridges 28". Thegrooves 22 aredisposediin groups andarrangedi at various angles onthe face of the dise Z-U substantially in, thelmannerzdescribed in: detail" inmy aforementioned copending U1 S; application Serial No. 193,643, of which-this application is=a= part, and the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference. Theelongate grooves 22" extend non-radially generally outwardly or toward. the peripheries of the re=- finer discs 20, 20a.

The numbers 23,, 24--designateinner andiouter" annular grooves in theworkingwfaces of the flat discs 2 9. The inner: annular groove 23 divides the Working face into inner and aoutenannularwork ing sectionszfi, 25;. Theelongate: grooves; 22" of inner working section 25:" are'atan 1 angle to the corresponding grooves 221: of: the immediately adjacent portion of outerworking-section 2.6 asfully brought out in my-aforementioned copending U. S. application Serial No.\193;643'.

The revolving. disc, 20 (Figs. .1, v2:),has. a hub '21 at its center'- and a;plurality;-ofspacedjeapart, relatively wide and deep radial passages; 3,0. Radial passages .have inclined .floors 31: which slope upwardly from hub'2;1 to annulargroovefiik Alternate ridg s 2:8 or, outer; working sectiomlfifi riphery of said disc, said grooves having curved cross sections the axes of which cross sections extend at an angle to a line perpendicular to said working face, and to the plane of the working face.

3. A refiner comprising a pair of relatively revolving refining discs having adjacent coacting Working faces substantially parallel to one another, each of said Working faces including elongate non-radial pulp carrying grooves all extending outwardly in the direction of the periphery of the disc, means for introducing fi brous pulp suspension to the inner ends of said grooves and for Withdrawing said fibrous pulp suspension from their outer ends, the grooves of the respective discs being similar as to size and shape but disposed at angles to one another, and said grooves having curved offset cross sections the axes of which cross sections are substantially parallel to one another and extend at an angle to the line perpendicular to the working faces, and to the plane of said working face.

4. A refiner comprising a pair of relatively revolving refining discs having adiacent coacting working faces substantially parallel to one another, each of said working faces including elongate non-radial pulp carrying grooves all extending outwardly in the direction of the periphery of the disc, means for introducing fibrous pulp suspension to the inner ends of said grooves and for withdrawing said fibrous pulp suspension from their outer ends, the grooves of the respective discs having curved offset cross sections, the axes of the cross sections of the grooves on one disc extending at an angle to the groove cross section axes of the other disc, all said axes being at substantially the same angle to a plane extending generally parallel to the working faces of the discs.

5. A fiber pulp refiner comprising relatively revolving pulp refining member having coacting adjacent working faces ubstantially parallel to one another, each of said working faces including a set of elongate grooves parallel to one another and extending outwardly in the direction of the outer edges of the Working faces, said grooves having curved cross sections, one end of the curve being at the working face and the other end spaced therefrom, and said grooves also having flat faces extending from said other end of the curve to said working face, said fiat face being disposed at an angle to the Working face and to a line perpendicular to said working face, means for introducing pulp suspension to the inner ends of said grooves, and means for withdrawing the refined pulp from the outer ends of said grooves.

6. In a pulp refiner, a pair of refiner discs having coacting adjacent Working faces, one of said discs bein stationary and the other revolving, said discs including elongate pulp carrying grooves directed outwardly on said working faces, at least some of the grooves of the revolving disc having in cross section a curved surface and a flat-surface, said curved surface forming an acute angle with the working face of the disc at the lagging edge of the groove, and said flat'face and working face forming an obtuse angle at the leading edge of the groove.

7. A fiber pulp refiner comprising relatively revolving pulp refining members having coacting adjacent working faces substantially parallel to one another, each of said Working faces ineluding an annular groove and a plurality of outwardly non-radially directed grooves disposed on the working faces outwardly of said annular groove, ridges intervening said outwardly directed grooves, flat faces upwardly inclined on said ridges extending at an angle from the base of said annular groove to the level of said ridges, said outwardly directed grooves having curved cross sectional contours offset from a line perpendicular to said working faces.

LIONEL M. SUTI-IERLAND.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,160,964 Warren Nov. 16, 1915 1,187,932 Ryther June 20, 1916 1,795,603 Hussey Mar. 10, 1931 1,814,587 Daniels July 14, 1931 2,035,994 Sutherland Mar. 31, 1936 2,156,320 Sutherland May 2, 1939 2,156,321 Sutherland May 2, 1939 2,424,726 Wells July 29, 1947 

